


Training

by HotaruGFC (JaclynGFC)



Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, First Kiss, Sparring, inspired by a scene in the opening
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:54:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27429004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaclynGFC/pseuds/HotaruGFC
Summary: Yami agrees to help Charlotte train... and things... happen.
Relationships: Charlotte Roselei/Yami Sukehiro
Comments: 21
Kudos: 125





	1. The Wall Crumbles

**Author's Note:**

> I started this when the opening Shine like a Diamond came out and saw them fighting. Aside from the fight, which looked like sparring more than anything, I had no context. So I just took those few images and ran with them.
> 
> Sorry if this switches perspective oddly. I started writing it and then put it aside for a while, so weird things might have happened. I might go back and fix it later. After NaNoWriMo.

They stood across the clearing from each other watching, waiting. He shifted his grip on the blade as she slid her foot back and shifted her weight in preparation to strike. They had been going round and round like this for the last several days – she moved to attack, working to strengthen herself, to move faster, with more grace, more power, while he defended and pushed back, holding the line against her barrage. Occasionally she would slip through his defense. Sometimes he would repel her, sending her back to her starting point, dusty and determined. Mostly, however, the effort ended in a draw, equal strengths pushing against each other. She would grit her teeth as she dug in, willing herself more power, more tenacity, as he sunk his weight further into the ground, rooting himself to the spot.

She broke off her attack with a sudden growl of frustration. He felt himself lurch forward, his momentum carrying him through where her resistance had been. 

"This isn't working." Her voice was fiery and angrier than he had ever heard her, which was saying something. He sheathed his blade as she began to pace. The magic of her vine whip dissolved into the surrounding air as she shoved its hilt and her grimoire back into its case at her hip. 

"No matter what I do, I can't break this wall blocking me in. I can't punch through even though I can feel the power on the other side."

"You worry too much, Charlotte. You'll get there. You just have to surpass your limits." He lit a cigarette, welcoming the training break so he could satisfy the growing craving.

Charlotte scoffed and shook her head in disgust. 

"What the hell do you think I've been trying to do?" The fire in her voice had risen and she glared at him with a burning gaze far more suited to a certain Vermillion woman.

Yami shrugged.

"Forget it. This isn't working."

"What did you expect to happen? I mean, we're just sparring."

"I don't know!" Her shrill voice echoed against the trees. "You're the one who fought with her. Maybe you could give me a hint or something?" She stopped her pacing right in front of him. Her lips were pressed tightly together in a sharp frown and her eyes flashed with a glint of fire instead of their usual ice. She wrinkled her nose in disgust before waving her hand in front of her face to clear the smoke from between them. 

"Maybe if you were in danger or something it would help? I mean, I've never had a breakthrough simply because I wanted to..."

"Don't you think if that would be the key that I would have been able to unlock this power by now?" She began her pacing once more. "Stupid man." 

Yami watched as she walked back and forth as he finished his cigarette. He realized she was right. She had experienced many life-threatening situations in the past. If breaking through to the other side of the barrier holding her back was as easy as that, she would not be here right now. The thing holding her back was something else, he surmised. 

The other woman, the one who had possessed her a while back, Charla, had command over her power, unlike anything Yami had seen in Charlotte. She was also more open, more honest with her feelings. They would need a different approach. Yami sucked deeply on the cigarette before tossing its still burning end to the ground. He stubbed it out with his toe and unsheathed his katana once more. He attacked as she was in mid-turn, catching her off-guard. He smirked at her expression but felt a strange sense of pride at her reaction as she swiftly defended against the blow with her magic. Her whip handle was in her hand before he had thought possible. He dared not lay off the attack, however. 

He would not leave her an opening, hoping the onslaught might trigger something within her. 

What he had not expected was how widely she left herself vulnerable as she countered his attack. He stepped in, moving closer, within a kill strike range. Her eyes were wide with shock. A grin erupted on his face as a wicked idea sprang to mind. She reeled backward, a deep crimson flush on her cheeks, though Yami was not sure if its cause was her anger and frustration at being caught with her guard down or something else entirely. He vaguely remembered Gordon saying something to him after the dinner experiment about how her behavior was strange for someone who Yami claimed hated him, something about it not being the disdain he had expected.

A glance into her too-blue eyes and he had made up his mind. He was close enough in the instance. He only had to move his head... 

He pressed his lips against hers quickly, playfully right before she completely lost her balance and landed on her rear with a thud. He caught his footing and reversed his forward momentum, stopping himself from crashing into her lap. He straightened his posture and rested his sword on his shoulder, smirking down at her. 

The brilliant red on Charlotte's face, her stunned and gaping look, only served to deepen his amusement. 

"You... you... you k-k-kissed me..." she stuttered, her body still rooted to the ground. Her gaze drifted toward the ground as she struggled to process the turn of events. Yami could feel the uncertainty within her.

"Yeah? And I'll do it again every time you drop your guard like that." He stepped back, preparing for another attack. 

Charlotte was still processing the last attack as she nearly fell prey to the next. She only barely brought up her defenses as he pushed toward her, but she was determined to not let him through again. His strikes and her parries grew closer, faster, and the distance between them shrunk. Charlotte doubted herself, or rather her decision to defend so vehemently. 

Sure he had stolen the kiss. She certainly had not permitted him.

And yet, as each strike brought him closer, she found herself longing. The nearness of him assaulted her with the scent of his sweat and his soft grunts of exertion. He prepared for an overhand strike, using his height and mass to knock her off balance, only this time, she countered, despite the distraction of her senses. He clicked his tongue as the failed maneuver, only to sweep in from the side and pull her closer to him and kiss her once more.

"That's two." He chuckled before he backed away, leaving her red-faced and sputtering. She stared after him a moment before her eyes narrowed. She moves onto the attack once more, trying to push him into a defensive stance. He quickly outmaneuvers her only to attack her from behind. This time the kiss was one her cheek, and a warm husky voice purred in her ear.

"And three."

Charlotte screams in frustration as she turns on him, trying to hit him with her magic. Only to have him evade her every strike. She stares at him as he balances on the branch of a tree above her. A smirk was plastered on his face. 

"What's wrong Prickly Queen? What happened to you being all cool, calm, and collected?" 

Charlotte stared up at him, her lips pursed in anger, her breathing heavy, and her face red. They had been sparring up close, giving him a distinct advantage with his swordsmanship. But Charlotte's magic worked just as well at longer range – maybe even better. As she stared at him, vines of roses crept up the tree. She had to find a way to remove his advantages. She had heard him mention something before, about reading the environment somehow. Flashes of her fight with him from when she was possessed showed he had not been so precise with his movements in that fight, but why? What had her other self been able to do that she had not yet figured out? 

She hoped he wouldn't notice the slow creeping of the vines, that he wouldn't see through her plan to entrap him, at least for a moment while she came up with a better plan.

She should have known better. 

Yami leaped down moments before the first vine ensnared his foot and landed in front of her, having lured her in with a sense of triumph. The closeness of his landing point caused her to stumble backward once more. He caught her with one arm around her waist.

"No fair trying to trap me." He chuckled before letting her go once more – this time without kissing her. 

"And why not?" She struggled to regain her balance. "My magic is perfect for it." She swung the vine whip toward him once she found her footing, and called the vines from the tree to trap him from behind. As the thorny briars sought their prey, dozens of buds burst forth in fragrant blue blooms. The flowers weren't the deep crimson of her elven counterpart, but the scent was nearly as strong as she remembered. He evaded once more, only this time the movement was unintentionally narrow. A flutter of worry passed over his face before the smirk settled in once more. 

"Oh, you're getting serious now? Well, come on. Let's dance." He moved in on her once more. Was it her imagination or did he seem to be slower than before? She parried his every strike and had each of hers rebuffed as well. The clash of his magic against hers rang with a sort of music against the rhythm of their labored breathing, marking time for their violent dance. A smile plastered Yami's face with every attack and counter. His eyes glinted with a sort of joy Charlotte had not expected. 

As she watched his face, ostensibly to read his movements, Charlotte could feel herself drawn more and more into a world made up of only them. She reacted to each of his motions on instinct, never breaking from his gaze. Her heart raced, but she suspected it was not from the combat. 

In a flurry, he had trapped an arm, grabbing her wrist with one hand. Their shoulders bumped as the movement drew them together. Their faces were near enough that she could feel the warmth of his breath. The moment held and then stretched as they panted, eyes locked.

Until Charlotte pressed her lips against his. The touch was uncertain, and when her eyes fluttered open, she was awarded a shocked expression on Yami's face followed quickly by an unconscious wetting of his lips before his infamous smirk settled back in.

"Guess that won't work anymore," he muttered as he sprang away from her once again. 

Charlotte stood there, panting and shaking. Her racing heart threatened to beat its way out of her chest. She was transfixed by what she had done, paralyzed by her action.  
Despite everything, all of the struggles to talk to him without insulting him, to touch him, to tell him how she felt, she had somehow managed to kiss him in the middle of a sparring session. She had wanted him to kiss her again after that first time. Even though his stolen kiss had angered her, she still wanted to feel his lips against hers. 

A sudden flurry of attacks came from a distance and caught her completely off guard. She stumbled once more, only this time he did not catch her. The space between them was too great. Even as she caught herself and respond with an attack of her own, he did not close the distance between them. The distance left him at a greater disadvantage. She knew it; he knew it, and yet he did not move to level the playing field, striking at her instead with crescents of dark energy launched from his blade. She absorbed the attacks easily with a wall of vines as she moved to entrap him with her briars. She didn't need to get closer to him to do so, yet she found herself closing the distance. Every step brought her closer. With every step, she threw her advantage to the wind. What she was doing would get her killed in battle, she knew. It ran like a mantra in her mind with every step. And yet she could not stop herself. She wanted to be near him. 

He watched her with a frown she could identify even from the distance. His attacks stopped for a moment as he focused on defending himself from the briars seeking him. 

"Are you doing this on purpose?" He called across to her as he hacked through the most recent shoot of vines that sprang from the ground.

"Doing what?" She swung her whip, calling forth more briars from behind him, forcing him to move forward, toward her.

"Throwing away your advantage." He spun and struck down the creeping brambles behind him.

"Maybe." The word stung like guilt. The closest thing to an admission of her feelings for him she had ever managed to speak fought its way past the wall which constrained her.

"Why?" Yami seemed thoroughly confused.

Charlotte opened her mouth once more, but this time the words refused to flow. The words caught in her throat as they always seemed to do, building up until her face blushed crimson. She started to back away, wondering what had driven her even this far, when he made his move. In less than a second, he had closed the gap until his face loomed large in her field of vision, obscuring all else. His brow was furrowed as he searched her face. He could have struck, claiming victory in the mock battle, but he did not. She recognized the opening, knowing she too could take him at the moment, snatching the victory for herself. But she could only look into his eyes. 

Until hers closed as she pressed her lips against his once more. What had been a quick tentative, playful kiss the first time evolved into a lingering touch and a desperate breath. The touch was light at first, cautious but grew more confident and determined as neither pulled away from it with any haste. With passion rising and her heart racing, Charlotte forced herself away. She wanted to see where the kiss would lead them, but fear gripped her. She felt herself being pulled under the water of her desire and was certain she would drown from it if she could not drag herself from the threatening depths. His eyes were wide with shock when she met them once more as if he struggled to process what was happening.

Charlotte took a couple of steps back and looked at the trampled ground between them and the overturned soil which pocked the field. Anywhere but him. 

"Guess we should call it a day." She said finally her breath still coming in shallow pants, her cheeks still warm and certainly pink. She stowed her weapon and her briars melted into mana before she turned away from him. She had felt his gaze the entire time. It burned her like a brand, one she both longed for and yet whose weight she could not bear.

"Tomorrow then?" He called after her. His voice seemed different, more eager, and with less of the droll sarcasm to which she was accustomed. His chest was still heaving with labored breath as she turned to look back at him. With a wave of her hand, she summoned her transport spell, all while nodding to him. Her gaze lingered in his for a moment as part of her screamed at her to run to him now, to kiss him again and to hell with the mirage of propriety holding her captive. Turning from him once again was more difficult than she had imagined, but she mounted her ride and forced herself away. 

She smiled the entire way home, wondering what tomorrow would bring. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confused Yami is confused.

The sudden pressure of her lips against his lips paralyzed him. He had agreed to help her train, happily, since he knew everyone needed to be at their best to withstand the next attack. The country, hell the whole damn world would need every single person at their peak. But he hadn't expected this. Not when she had been so frustrated with her progress the last several days they had sparred. He kept pushing and pushing, trying to have her breakthrough the block holding her back, trying to help her tap into the mana her other self had been able to access. He didn't know if the block was part of her curse lingering or if the elven woman had secrets that were now lost to time. But she had asked for help – in as roundabout of a way as possible, and he was happy to give it.

But nothing had helped and she had grown more and more frustrated with training and with herself. He knew he had to do something, anything if only to help her stop feeling defeated. She would never surpass her limits if she believed it was impossible. So the moment he was close to her, the idea sprang to life. It was an idea she was certain to hate, that was certain to anger her so much she might be able to push through what was holding her back.

He kissed her.

He meant it to be playful and annoying, nothing serious. Just enough to pick at her. 

He had never expected her to kiss him back. 

The first time was a shock and it twisted his world upside down. He dared not stop the sparring match, not while he was figuring out what was going on. He did all of his best thinking while in a fight, or on the toilet, but he couldn't very easily go run there to piece this puzzle together. 

He kept his distance, yet she kept moving closer. It was counter-intuitive and Charlotte knew better. She had every advantage, and yet she kept herself open to his attacks by shrinking the gap between them. And then she used her briars to draw him closer to her still. 

"Are you doing this on purpose?" The thought had seemed ridiculous. Why put herself in more danger when she could finish the fight and claim victory?

"Doing what?" She couldn't be that oblivious, could she? No. She had to know what she was doing. She had to be doing it on purpose. But why?

"Throwing away your advantage." Yami had to point it out, just to be sure.

"Maybe." The answer gave him pause, just long enough for her to use her attack to corral him once more.

"Why?" Any possible answer eluded him. He waited a moment for her to enlighten him, but she only stood there, gape-mouthed and confused. Did she not have an answer herself? 

He lunged at her, closing the distance. He hoped to glean some understanding from her eyes, her ki, but what he saw and felt there only added to his confusion. He saw desperation, fear, guilt, and... longing. 

And then she kissed him. 

As she kissed him, he found himself wanting to kiss her back. He wanted to drop his blade and wrap his hands around her waist or slide his fingers through her hair, over her neck, across her skin. The desperation from her eyes translated into the slight trembling movements of her lips against his, a movement which seemed to hypnotize him. 

Until she stopped and ran once again. 

She always ran. 

And so he stood there, frozen, watching her depart, telling him they've trained enough for the day. He heard every word, but his mind was still trying to process the kiss as she summoned her vehicle.

"Tomorrow then?" He managed to call after her. In the distance, he could see the nod of her head, but he was not sure if the smile he saw on her face was real or imagined.  
He could still feel the warmth of her lips against his. The smell of her still lingered in the air around him as he watched her disappear into the distance. He pressed his lips together and then licked them before pulling a cigarette from his pouch and lighting it. 

She had kissed him.

But why?

And why did it seem like she didn't want to stop?

And why did he want her to do it again?

Questions plagued him as he walked back the short distance to the base. The cigarette hadn't helped with the tumultuous thoughts. He was still thinking about the intensity of her list kiss when he walked in. He walked through the chaos of the common room as if his squad members were nothing but mirages. Grabbing the newspaper, he made his way to the toilet.

As he sat in the small room, reading the paper and ignoring the noises from outside, he tried to lose himself in the events of the past week. Only her brilliant eyes light kept gazing at him from his mind. The feeling of the kiss, now phantom-like, haunted him almost as much as his confusion over it. 

The kiss was nothing like he would have imagined. He had never thought she could be so... desperate. Yes, that was the word to describe it. The kiss had been passionate, sure, and it left him wanting more, but it had been something else entirely, something he hadn't been able to figure out until now. 

She was desperate. 

But for what?

Yami knew she could have any man she wanted. If she just needed the physical contact or touch, he was sure she could find someone to give it to her. Someone she didn't hate as she hated him.

She had made how she felt for his crystal clear over the years. She couldn't stand him. Not one bit.

Only now that kiss made him wonder. 

If she hated him so much, why ask him to help her train? Fuegoleon or Jack would be just as good of a sparring partner. True, they hadn't fought with her possessed self, but did that really matter in helping her get stronger? 

Why didn't she get angry, or at least angrier than she did when he stole the kiss? Her surprise was expected after the first one, but she only seemed to grow more flustered each time. If her reddened face was from anger, she certainly did not translate that emotion into her attacks. 

And why would she have given up her advantage over him? Not only that but purposefully given him the upper hand by forcing him closer to her? 

It almost seemed like she wanted him to kiss her again. 

But why? 

She hated him. Right?

Yami turned the page of the newspaper absently, fully aware he had not comprehended a single word on the page. His mind was too full of her. He groaned in frustration and realized his usual thinking spot was not giving him the peace he needed. He could also smell the reek of sweat on him and decided he needed a bath.

The hot water of the bath once he settled in was relaxing. He hadn't felt sore while they were sparring, but now the hot water seemed to point out knotted muscles in places he hadn't realized he was using. He closed his eyes, expecting the warmth of the water and air to lull his exhausted body and mind to the sense of peace he usually felt in the bath.   
Only the warm air now reminded him of the heat pouring off her blushing face as she looked up at him after the kiss and her panting breath as they locked gazes. He sighed and let his mind wander to where ever it would. 

And yet it kept wandering back to her. Not just the Charlotte he knew, the one who hated him and talked down to him every chance she had, but to the Charlotte who kissed him desperately and whose eyes looked at him with... was it longing? What would have happened if he had kissed her back? 

The act had stunned him so much he couldn't respond, not at the time, but now he wondered and imagined. 

The kiss, once returned, deepening until it led to hands exploring and clothing shed. He licked his lips, imagining the taste of her skin, shimmering and salty with sweat as he kissed her neck. Would she moan? Would she gasp?

He figured her body would be pressed against his, her hands against his chest. Would he cup her ass first or her breasts? He already knew she was shapely. And he wanted to touch every bit of her. 

He felt himself swell and rise as he imagined them locked together, naked, kissing, touching each other. He imagined pushing her down, mounting her, thrusting his swollen cock deep within her as she gasped. 

He shook the image from his head. Something felt wrong. He took a deep breath to refocus his thoughts on something, anything but her. But she came screaming back into his mind. Only this time, she grinned at him and pushed him down. She used her magic to help restrain him, but her desire as she mounted him was restraint enough. Oh yeah, he liked this version of her. He imagined how her thighs would grip him, how her skin would feel under his hands, the weight of her breasts as he cupped them. The thought of her taking her pleasure upon him brought him to the height of his desire to the point where he could not resist release. 

As he let go, his body and his mind seemed to float in the warm water. He struggled to hold on to the fantasy, to his imagined Charlotte taking what she wanted from him. Despite the desperation she seemed to feel, Yami was certain that version of Charlotte would only ever live in his fantasy.

He stepped out from the bath, dripping water, and wrapped himself in a towel. He glanced back at the bath guiltily before he released the drain holding back the water.   
After dressing once more, Yami joined the commotion in the common room as he hunted down something to eat. 

"So, Yami. I heard that Captain Charlotte was training with you again." Finral tried to make small talk from across the table. Since he had agreed to the joint training session with the Blue Rose Knights, Yami and Charlotte had held a couple of additional training sessions of their own. He suspected some of his squad members were also training with others from the Blue Rose, but he didn't really care what they were doing, as long as they were getting stronger. 

That was the whole point of the training, after all.

But was he getting stronger? 

"Yes. And we're training again tomorrow." 

"Is that what they call it these days?" Gordon said from Yami's other side. "Because I swear what I saw looked a whole lot like flirting."

The silent, shy Gordon had opened up significantly in the last few months, and his power had grown at pace with his freedom to communicate. Still, there were times when Yami wished he would keep his mouth shut.

"We were training," Yami said through gritted teeth. Gordon and Finral both recoiled from the statement and their captain. They both also found something else far more in need of their attention. Yami sighed as he continued to eat his meal in silence, despite the chaos happening around him.

Flirting. The word had stuck in his mind. 

He would admit to trying to flirt with Charlotte in the past. No man alive could deny her beauty and desirability. But he quickly learned she was not someone to be toyed with.   
And then started the red-faced conversations and the anxious air around her whenever they had to work together or even be near each other. All because he had seen her at her lowest state as her curse nearly took effect because he now knew her weakness. After that, she had become jumpy around him, and quick to anger. So even though he had stopped trying to flirt with her years ago, he could not help but tease her. She was far too easy of a target to ignore.

But how she acted today, how she responded to his kiss... it wasn't quite the angry response he had assumed it would be. Even as he stole a second and then a third kiss, she did not grow angry. More flustered, sure, but not angry. 

And then the desperation when she had kissed him... And everything that had happened with her squad in recent weeks... 

Yami had a crazy idea, one he could barely believe could be possible. 

What if she had never been angry at all? What if the desperation he felt from her today had been underlying every interaction they had had?

What if she had been so flustered, so embarrassed, so... resistant not because she hated him, but because she actually really liked him?

Yami furrowed his brow in thought, considering the crazy possibilities before dismissing them. If she liked him, why would she run away from him like she always seemed to do?

He focused his attention back on his meal and pushed such thoughts from his mind.

Still, he had kissed her, he thought with a smirk. Not many people could claim that as an achievement.

Should their game continue when they met the next day? The question, among many others, plagued him the rest of the night.


End file.
